This report was published by the US Department of Health & Human Services.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

Over the past two decades, there has been increasing recognition that runaway and homeless youth (RHY) constitute a vulnerable population that faces a multitude of problems while away from home and, often, difficulties of equal magnitude in the homes they have left. Many of these youth are thought to have been victimized by sexual abuse and to have left home as a means of escaping abusive families.

Unfortunately, many of the physical and social environments that they then find for themselves increase the likelihood that they will engage in survival sex, substance use, and other risky behaviors. Although these behaviors are now well documented, relatively little is known about the scope and prevalence of sexual abuse among the families of origin of RHY, the extent to which such abuse may exceed that of comparable youth in the general population, and the role that sexual abuse plays in the youth’s decision to leave home.